Five Months
by EllaBella18
Summary: "I can't do this anymore Noah. I think I need to leave." And all he could do was watch as she walked out on him.


So I have to give mad credit to Manda for giving me the prompt for this oneshot. Without her this would of never happened. Also, to the people who read LYAA there's an update coming your way. Soon.

Anyway, I hope you guys like this, and remember, reviews are love!

* * *

They're screaming at each other and he's honestly not even sure how they got there. Its late and he honestly feels like they've been going at it for hours, probably have been. They've been back and forth for awhile now and he's starting to doubt that its going to get any better. That doesn't stop his world from turning upside down at her next words though.

"I can't do this anymore," Rachel whispers running a hand through her hair, tears streaming down her face.

Puck shrugs his shoulders and looks her in the eyes. "So don't," he states like its the easiest thing in the world for them to stop. He knows its not, the fights always spring up out of nowhere.

"That's not what I mean. I can't do this anymore Noah," she explains gesturing to the two of them."I think I need to leave."

"What the fuck do you mean by you think you need to leave. That's bullshit Rachel and you know it. I'll fucking do the therapy, just don't go."

Rachel wipes her eyes and looks him in the eyes. "I don't think it'll help anymore. We got married so young Noah, right out of high school, that I think we need time to find out who we are. Apart."

She leaves him standing there stunned as she makes her way up the stairs of their modest two bedroom home. She comes back down half an hour later, pink suitcase in tow, to find that he's sunk down into the couch.

She leaves the suitcase in the hall before going over to him. "I'm sorry," she whispers, leaning over to place a soft kiss on his forehead. "I love you," she adds standing up to walk away.

"Rachel-" he calls out when she's halfway out the door.

"Goodbye Noah."

* * *

It takes a week before he leaves the house. It took Quinn threatening to castrate him to do it, but the point is he's out of the house and over at Finn's and Quinn's for dinner like any other Thursday night. Except its the first time he's there and Rachel's not with him.

"How you doing man?" Finn asks him with his eyes on the tv screen, beer in his left hand.

"Fucking dandy," Puck replies rolling his eyes and taking a long drink from his.

Quinn walks in the living room then with a one year old Gracie on her hip and a four year old Benjamin trailing closely behind. "Dinner is ready," she says handing Gracie off to Finn. "Can you get them set up babe? I need to talk to Puck."

Finn nods and takes Ben's hand with his free one and makes his way into the dining room.

"She misses you you know," Quinn says once Finn is gone.

"What? How do you know?" Puck asks looking at the blond with hurt and concern laced across his features.

"I talked to her yesterday. You're not the only one she left Puck, she's been my best friend for years."

"Yeah well at least she fucking calls you. At least you know she's alive. Where is she?"

"She made me promise not to tell. Puck, when she's ready she'll call."

"Whatever," Puck mumbles stalking off into the Hudson's dining room.

* * *

It takes her three weeks to admit to herself that she misses him more than she thought she would. It takes her another two weeks to admit to herself that maybe leaving wasn't the best idea.

Quinn comes to visit her in Lima after she's been gone for two months. They go visit the new New Directions and joke that they're nowhere near as good as they had been (okay so maybe there was truth behind those jokes) before they go for dinner and overall they just lay low like she's been doing for the past two months in the first place. Rachel can tell that Quinn wants to say something to her, but she makes sure her dads are always around or they're in public so that she can avoid what she so doesn't want to hear. Unfortunately she can't avoid things forever.

Its late and they're spread out on the sectional couch in her dad's family room. Some random chick flick is playing in the background and there's enough junk food spread out to make a sixteen year old Rachel cringe.

"He's miserable without you," Quinn states, hitting pause on the dvd player.

Rachel sighs, running a hand through her messy brown locks, and readies herself for this conversation that she knew was inevitable.

"I don't know what you expect me to do about that Quinn."

Quinn rolls her eyes and makes Rachel look her in the eye. "Look, I love you, you're my best friend. And I love Puck too. And you're both so miserable without each other and its killing me, its killing Finn, and its killing the both of you. So come home with me Rach."

"Its not really that simple Quinn."

"Yes it is."

"Quinn-"

"Just think about it okay?" Rachel nods her head and Quinn hits play on the dvd player.

* * *

Puck finds that after three months with no contact from his wife that life gets easier to live again. He still misses the fuck out of her, but it doesn't hurt to exist as much as it did when she first left.

At least that's true during the daytime.

At night when he lies awake in their bed that still smells like her, its pure torture. It takes everything in him not to cry like a little school girl and even more not to just start punching things. There's times when he's lying awake that he misses her so much its hard to breathe and he feels like his world is literally coming to an end. They'd been together since they were sixteen and fuck he just wants her home with him.

He knows that Quinn went to see her last month and he honestly thought that she'd come home with the blond. He'd gone out and gotten so drunk that Finn had to come get him when he realized she didn't.

He's shuffling around the kitchen getting something to eat one night when the phone rings. He reaches to grab it and drops his plate full of spaghetti when he hears her voice.

"Rachel?" he breathes out, barely daring to believe its her.

"Hi," she whispers and he can hear the tears in her voice.

Relief washes over him that she's okay before its quickly replaced with anger that it took her this long to call in the first place.

He's silent while he waits for her to talk and he's seconds away from just hanging up on her before she speaks again.

"I miss you," she confesses, taking a breath before she continues, "and I know that I'm the one who left and I know you're probably furious with me and you have every right to be but I just…I just miss you."

He lets out a sigh he didn't realize he was holding in and runs a hand through what little hair he has on his shaved head.

"I miss you too."

He knows he should be livid, but hearing her say that washed all of the anger out of him and he's honestly just relieved to be hearing her voice again. "Where are you?"

"At my dads'."

"Oh." There's a bit of an awkward silence that settles over the two of them and he honestly doesn't know what to do about it. Rachel, his Rachel, had never been one for silence.

He hears her take a big breath before speaking again. "I have to go, Daddy is calling me, we have reservations. But…I'll call you okay? And call me."

He whispers an okay and then they hang up the phone and he slides to the floor with his head in his hands. The call wasn't much, but it was something and at this point that's really all that matters.

* * *

They start talking. A lot. They both call each other all the time and Rachel is relieved that they're actually talking. They're not skating around their issues and its the first time in a long time that she feels like maybe they'll be okay.

Quinn comes to visit again when she's been gone for five months, but this time she brings Gracie with her and their days are crazy and hectic so they don't really get a chance to talk.

One night Quinn's mom takes Gracie for the night and they decide to go out for a girls night. They call up Santana and Brittany and honestly its the most fun Rachel's had in a long time. Quinn and Rachel end up in the only diner in Lima that's opened late after Santana and Brittany go home for the night and Rachel knows this is their chance to just talk.

"So you and Puck have been talking?" Quinn questions running a finger around the rim of her coffee cup.

Rachel takes her fork and moves the piece of chocolate cake around on her plate before she meets the blond's eyes. "Yeah. We've been talking a lot actually."

Quinn raises an eyebrow. "And how's that going?"

"Really well actually. I think…I think I'm ready to come home."

Quinn's face breaks out into a smile and she goes around the booth to hug her best friend of all these years. "Good. Because I miss you. Puck misses you."

"I miss him too."

* * *

He's laying on the couch one day after work flipping through the channels when his phone rings. He smiles when he sees Rachel's name across the display and hastily picks it up.

"Hey," he greets putting the tv on mute and sitting up.

"How are you?" she asks and he swears he hears a bit of nervousness in her tone.

"Fine. Better now that-" He's cut off by the doorbell ringing and he swears softly and pushes himself off of the sofa. "Rach hang on a sec there's someone at the door."

He stalks to the front hall and whips open the door without even checking to see who it is and when she turns to him and shyly smiles he feels like the world has stopped.

"Hi," is all she offers before he pulls her into his arms and holds her tight.

He buries his head into her hair and she starts to cry. "I'm so so sorry for leaving. I never should of. It just made me realize there's nowhere else I'd rather be than right here."

He lifts his head to look at her and its as if the past five months have never happened. He captures her lips with his and murmurs, "its okay baby," against them before leading them back into the house.

They both know that they should stop and probably talk some more before falling back into bed with each other, but it had been too long and it felt too right.


End file.
